>> okay. >> now they're going to move on to a different color and i hope mckenna is happy. >> i think it's a bit much. but okay. 4:59 is our time. stay with us. news 4 continues right now at 5:00 a.m. breaking news in prince george's county. police evacuate a neighborhood overnight when a man barricades himself in his apartment. we're live on the scene. good morning everyone. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to news4 today. it's 50 degrees. little bit of a wet start. let's check in with tom kierein with forecast. tom, hi. >> good morning. when you went to bed last night, you probably saw a lot fog in your neighborhood. it's pretty much gone. the winds have picked up sweeping the fog away. we've had overnight sprinkles too. they're gone now. as we look at the view from space, the satellite image

showing a few clouds lingering over the metro area in parts of northern virginia and maryland. there are breaks in the clouds over the shenandoah vaey. parts of the northern neck. cloud cover there beginning to break up a little bit. temperatures right now around the metro area in fairfax, arlington, prince george's, arlington in the upper 40s. it's in the low 50s much of southern maryland around the bay and on the even shore and northern neck and farther west. from prince william county, stafford, loudoun and fauquier, in the upper 40s. cooler shendoah valley. by 6:00 a.m., still a lot of cloudiness around. southwest breeze at around 50. by noontime, might have a few sprinkles, a small chance of that in the mid 50s. that's when we'll have the winds gusting to 30 miles per hour. a blustery afternoon. turning colder tonight. we'll look at that in the hometown forecast in ten minutes. a look at traffic now. here's danella. good morning. >> good morning. still receiving a report of an accident on the 11th street brim

as you head eastbound. just be aware of that as you make your commute. volume still pretty light. checking out the beltway in montgomery county. nice and clear. no issues to report. same thing in prince george's county. crossing over the wilson bridge into virginia, clear as well. i'm back in ten minute and we'll check the rails then. breaking news in prince george's county. several apartment buildings in adelphi are evacuated as police rye to end a standoff with a man. this is at greenwichwood drive. melissa mollet joins us live. what's going on there. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. on a large police presence, this entire area, as you mentioned is still blocked off. and could be for some time. let me step out of the way so you can see what's going on. the entire apartment complex, this avery apartment home complex to my left here has been shut down and much of it down the hill to my left evacuated. now, being blocked off.

now, news 4 first on the scene this morning. take a look at some of the video we have here of that swat team coming in about six hours ago. here is what we know. u.s. marshals came to make an arrest monday night. they had some sort of altercation with the suspect who lives here. he has now barricaded himself inside an apartment here. we're told he is armed but there are no hostages taken. that he has taken in that building. no one else in that building either because it's been evacuated. prince george's county swat team is now negotiating with him. sources on the scene telling us the suspect may have been involved in recent carjackings and that's why he was being arrested this entire area will be blocked off, things here shut down until they can resolve the situation. we do have dozens of riss dents out here in the parking lot waiting to be let back inside. melissa mollet, news 4.

thank you, melissa. police are releasing few details after they found a man inside a building. 200 i street yesterday afternoon. homicide crews were also called to the scene. police are not saying how the man died or if there are suspects. police in prince william county are looking for a man who sexually assaulted a girl inside her home posing as a cable worker. take a look at your screen. this is a composite sketch. the man knocked at the woodbridge home claiming to be from comcast. he asked for someone who did not live there and then left. he returned later, threatened the girl with a knife and forced her into a bedroom. he ran after the girl began kicking and screaming. if you have any information, call prince william county police. four minutes after the hour. the newtown, connecticut, community will attempt to return to a sense of normalcy today. classes resume at all newtown schools except for sandy hook elementary. the students return as that

community says goodbye to more victims of friday's shooting at sandy hook. danielle lee is live in newtown, connecticut, with the latest. danielle, good morning. >> reporter: aaron, good morning. you may be able to make out a christmas tree over my shoulder. that's marking a memorial that's become the focal point of this little town. students may drive past it today as they head to class and return to routines for the first time since the shooting. it will be a reminder that some things will never be the same. yesterday we saw the first two funerals for the victims. there will be more today. there will be a viewing for the teacher vicky soto who died shielding her students. it's been incredible to see the mementos that people have been bringing to the memorials in tribute to these victims. police say the investigation continues. they have confirmed that the shooter went to shooting ranges with his mother who also was the rightful owner of those guns that he used in the crime. they also say that they have obtained a damaged computer, not

sure what kind of information they will be able to glean from it in the hopes of a motive. as they investigate, these victims, these survivors, they're waiting for answers. >> i'm not sure we're ever going to get back to normal. whatever we can do to head that way, we want to start doing that. >> seeing the town come together like this is amazing. i'm proud to say that i'm from here. >> school officials in the town of monroe near to hearsay that they could have their school ready for sandy hook students in about a day. those students are indefinitely excused and it's unclear when they will return to class. reporting live in newtown, connecticut, i'm danielle lee, back to you. >> danielle, thank you. we'll have much more on the tragedy throughout the morning, including the changes two of the country's largest retailers are making in the wake of that shooting. lawmakers head to capitol hill with a heavy heart.

senator daniel inouye passed away at the age of 88. the hawaii senator was elected in 1962 and served nearly nine full terms in office. he was also a a war hero, losing his arm fighting had world war ii and receiving the medal of honor. he died from respiratory problems at walter reed army medical center. a great american. >> indeed. 5:07 is our time. how redskins quarterback robert griffin iii is doing. we'll get an update on his knee injury. you may need your umbrella today. weather and traffic on the 1s after this.

. two of nasas spacecraft have been destroyed. they crashed into the moon yesterday on purpose. the two orbiters named ebb and flow hit the moon surface at 4,000 miles an hour. they were nearly out of fuel. scientists wanted to make sure they didn't hit the places where the apollo astronauts landed. ebb and flow finished their mission, though. they circled the moon and mapped

gravity differences to help scientists better understand how rocky planets are made. >> so long, ebb and flow. thanks for your work. we hardly knew you. it is now 5:11. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein here with your forecast. tom, good morning. >> good morning. right now we've got the fog dissipating. we had thick fog last evening but it's gone. winds picking up out of the southwest. cloud cover breaking up a little bit across virginia. right around the district and much of maryland, it's still cloudy. getting sprinkles, a disturbance into the ohio valley. it will be passing over us midday with a chance of a few sprinkles. 6:00 a.m. warrenton, fauquier county, breaks in the clouds. by the lunch-hour, in the low to mid 50s and partly sunny and a slight chance of a sprinkle over the noon hour. later this afternoon, climbing into the upper 50s. the winds will get gusty, too. we could have gusts up to 30 miles per hour. this evening, turning colder. a look at your seven-day outlook

in ten minutes. danella with a look at traffic now. good morning. >> good morning. we'll start with the rails. if you're taking metro or vre, mo reported delays. over to the roadways, a situation along eastbound 100. this is at arundel mills boulevard. you'll be forced off to arundel mills boulevard. travel lanes are open at i-66. a live look at the rest area. as you make your way eastbound, nice and clear commute. westbound, virtually any cars on the road at all. as you travel 66 inside the beltway, a live look at glebe. no issues to report. i'm back in ten minutes. aaron and eun, back to you. >> thank you, danella. >> 5:12. 50 degrees. the change made overnight to help you get to work faster. also ahead, a new travel app is here. how it could help you save big this holiday travel season. random act of kindness to honor the victims of the tragedy at sandy hook.

i'm angie goff gathering

i'm angie goff with breaking news from the news 4 live did he say desk. since we first reported about the kidnapping of richard engel, we've learned new details. nbc news saying that the chief foreign correspondent along with his crew was freed from his captors in syria. engel was kidnapped and held for five days and eventually freed in syria after a firefight at a checkpoint on monday. nbc news has come out and said we're pleased to report they are safely out of the country. the captors were unidentified and were not believed to be assad loyalists. they didn't ask for money or a ransom of any kind. engel and his crew, this is new background information we got, disappeared shortly after crossing into northwest syria from turkey on thursday.

we're being told he was abducted, the crew was blindfolded, they were tossed in the back of a truck and brought to an undisclosed location. the good news is they're saying that no one was physically harmed. the network did not have contact actually with engel or any members of his crew until he was freed on monday. that's the latest. now back to you. >> breaking news here at home. police in prince george's county currently investigating a home invasion and shooting. they say four men broke into a home. this happened in the 9100 block in fort washington. the men shot the homeowner. tony tull live at the scene with more. >> reporter: good morning, aaron. scary situation for a family here around 2:00 this morning. as you mentioned, a home invasion. multiple suspects barged into the house demanded cash and jewelry. the homeowner, a gentleman in his 40s confronted those suspects and he was shot in the back. i want to give you a sense of the scene right now. multiple police units are here on scene doing investigation.

you can see that right front window where the blinds are kind of messed up. that is where the situation took place. now, the suspects, we are being told, did get away. but police are still trying to gather clues here. i want to bring in mr. leonard parker. you are the brother-in-law of the victim. >> my wife got a phone call this morning arod about 3:30 saying that my brother-in-law got shot. somebody invaded the home. demanded money, demanded cash. he got shot in the back. >> seems to be a very quiet neighborhood. your sister-in-law as well as your 16-year-old niece was in the house. they're okay o. but does this scare you? >> well, seems to be a pretty good neighborhood. i think they probably traumatized by the event. but you know, it is a little bit ary. it's the holiday season. somebody just random act of violence. i would be kind of scared myself

too, if i was the victims. >> mr. parker, we appreciate your time and best wishes to your brother-in-law. again shlgs around 2:00, aaron, this morning, these multiple suspects broke into the house. the home en, again, in his 40s was shot in the back. the wife is okay as well as the 16-year-old daughter. police still looking for the suspects. that's the latest from here. i'm tony tull. drivers hitting the gas pedal harder. four roads unveiled higher speed limits. north capitol street from michigan avenue to hairwood road goes up from 35 to 40 miles per hour. you can go 40 on canal road from the chain bridge road to o fox hall. vdot has studied these roads and determined the speed could go up without impacting safety. as the nation tries to heal from the tragedy at sandy hook, a movement in honor of those killed is sweeping social media.

it's called 26 acts. it was the idea of nbc's ann curry. the goal, get people to do 26 random acts of kindness in member of the 20 children and six adults killed. people worldwide are buying dinner for strangers, donating money to teacher funds. one woman is even making hats for 26 newborns at her local hospital. we want to know if you're getting in on the act with this. visit our news 4 facebook page and let us know if someone has done something for you. some of the world's large he's retailers are making changes in the wake of the shootings in newtown. walmart's pulled a military-style assault rifle from its website. aits similar to the one that adam lanza used on friday. dick's sporting goods removed all guns from the stores closest to newtown out of respect for the familiesnd victims. alexandria teenager will appear before a judge this morning a day after he brought a

bb gun to school. he was arrested at t.c. williams high school. administrators called police when they found the gun and a jar of pellets. the boy was taken to the detention center where he was hold overnight. police say there was never any threat to students or faculty. a man in woodbridge is going to cash a very large check. he won $1 million in the december 8th powerball drawing. he did that by getting all the numbers right except the powerball. the woodbridge store that sold the winning ticket will get a $10,000. bonus. on friday, a woman claimed her million dollar prize she won in the november 8th powerball drawing. congratulations to all. 5:21 is our time. we're starting the day off with temperatures around 50 degrees here in upper northwest d.c. and some clouds out there. tom kierein has your forecast. >> it's near 50 in washington as well. there's a live view from the city camera. showing no fog around. a lot of the fog dissipated last night as winds increased out of

the southwest sweeping the fog away. we still have a lot of cloudiness over the region this morning. breaks in the clouds to our south, though and southwest and we'll have a little bit of sunshine perhaps this morning, temperatures right now generally in the 40s to near 50 in the suburbs as well. around the bay, southern maryland, northern neck and eastern shore, in the low to mid 50s as well as through central virginia. low 40s in the shenandoah valley. here's your four-day forecast. midday, chance of a few sprinkles, perhaps 10:00, 11:00 this morning until 1:00 or 2:00 this afternoon. small chance of sprinkles. otherwise, partly sunny, highs reaching the mid and upper 50s. winds gusting to 30 miles an hour. that's going to start perhaps later this morning and during the afternoon. winds diminish tonight and sunny tomorrow. a cold start. afternoon highs low 50s. low 50s on thursday with rain likely during the afternoon and evening. clearing out and windy. colder weather moving in friday and through the weekend. 20s in the mornings. afternoon highs around 40

saturday, sunday and monday with diminished winds by then. i'm back in ten minutes. danella here with your first 4 traffic. good morning. >> good morning. thanks, tom. starting in maryland, still checking on this earlier accident eastbound 100 at arundel mills boulevard. all lanes are blocked. if you're heading eastbound, you'll be forced off to arundel mill boulevard. heading in the hov lanes, i-95 northbound, have an accident off to the right shoulder lane in the hov lanes. seeing crowding in this area. shooting over this time to the dulles toll road, checking cameras. also reports not seeing any reports of incidents as you travel between the dulles greenway to the toll road connecting to the beltway. in both directions you're clear. back in ten minute with an update on the crash inbound on the 11th street bridge near m street. aaron and eun, over to you. >> thank you, danella. it's the holiday gift that nobody wants to give back. the gas prices at the lowest point of the year. it's about $3.25 a gallon and

dropped every day this month. prices have fallen 16% since september. some are paying lower than the $3 mark. missouri drivers paying $2.95. that's the lowest in the entire country. the first time since july the average price in any state dropped below three bucks. this holiday season, traveling on a discount bus is a popular option. a trip to new york or philly could cost $10 or $20. there's a way to check up on their track records before you arrive. the federal motor carrier safety administration created the app for ipad and iphones to check the safety record of any bus company. federal regulators are cracking down on bus companies after several deadly crashes including this one in virginia last year. safety advocates say it's important for riders do their homework. >> we would encourage anyone who is selecting a motor coach travel, where does it stop, is it a safe place, is it easily accessible terminal. >> discount bus travel is

popular in the united states, especially on the east coast. there are 750 million trips on those buses every year. when it comes to ipad use, a lot of consumers are opting for a smaller package. according to business trader.com, ipad minis are outselling the bigger brother 2 to 1. while apple projected sales close to equal for the last quarter of this year, the ipad minis are flying off shelves faster. insider sources say that apple has sold between 14 million mini ipads for the first quarter of 2013 compared to 5 million big ipads. i guess mini and big is how we're referring to them now. >> or regular. >> the last thing a sports fan wants to watch the big game from, a place where everybody else is rooting for the other team. two nba students at george mason university came up with a solution. they've create the a website where fans can find local establishments that cater to specific ports teams.

it won them a $20,000 prize. >> it's about connecting sports fans around their favorite sports teams. we're bridging that gap between online connections and off line connections at local sports bars. >> i think actually where we got the idea is we're both new york giants fans. it came from difficulty trying to find a sports bar in the d.c. area. >> good luck, buddy. >> the site works in several cities across the country. now they're working on an app for their website. a great game by backup kirk cousins won't keep rg3 off the field as soon as he's ready to go. coach shanahan says he'll go with his starter as soon as doctors say that he's 100%. but shanahan says they're going to make sure that the ligament in his knee and his leg are fine and that there is no chance of reinjuring it before theput him back in. griffin will continue to be evaluated this week ahead of sunday's game against the eagles. even without playing, the rookie quarterback is still setting records. get this.

rg3's number 10 jersey is the top selling jersey for a single season. that since the league started keeping track of sales six years ago. it breaks the previous record set by brett favre when he started playing for the vikings in 2009. not surprised. >> pretty cool stuff, too. our time right now is 5:27. coming up, new calls for a change in the gun control laws in the u.s. we have a live report from capitol hill. and new progress between the white house and house speaker john boehner as they negotiate to avoid the fiscal cliff. a few sprinkles moving through the area. tom has your forecast in weather and traffic on the 1s.

breaking news in prince george's county. dozens of people out of their apartment, evacuated from their homes. right now police are in a standoff with an armed man in the 1800 block of greenwichwood drive in adelphi. u.s. marshals arrived around 10:00 last night to arrest a suspect who lives there. there was an altercation and now that armed suspect barricaded himself in his home. there are no hostages here. the prince george's county swat team is negotiating with that man. >> continue to follow that story on news4 today. i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. welcome back on this tuesday, december 18th. it's 5:30. 49 degrees outside. tom has a look at the rest of the region. >> we had a lot of fog last evening. after midnight, since then, winds picked up swept the fog

away and now we have just clouds lingering this morning. cloud cover actually beginning to break up farther to the south, the northern neck. they're seeing stars twinkling through the stars as well as shenandoah valley. farther north and west, they're getting a few sprinkles in southwestern west virginia, eastern kentucky. it's a disturbance sweeping through by late morning and early afternoon. it might trigger a few sprinkles for us. right now, it's in the 40s. these areas in blue. far north and west of washington into the mountains. right around the metro area, near 50 degrees, including the district of columbia. milder, right around the bay in northern neck, eastern shore. right now, around the metro area, it's hovering in the upper 40s to near 50. our temperatures will be climbing into the upper 50s by mid-afternoon. between now and then, we'll have a little sunshine breaking out this morning. but maybe a few sprinkles late morning, early afternoon, small chance of that. gusts of wind to 30 miles an hour this afternoon as we go partly sunny.

a look at your hometown forecast. that's coming up in just a couple of minutes. now, danella is here with a look at traffic. good morning. >> good morning. the first alert traffic office, i'm checking a couple accidents. inbound on the 11th street brid. making your way towards m street, that exit is blocked because of an accident. police are on the scene. i-95 northbound in the hov lanes at back lick road. if you're taking the hov lanes, your volume is increasing. good news in maryland, eastbound 100 at arundel mills boulevard, that accident is cleared. the american legion bridge on the inner loop, a disabled vehicle there but just in the right shoulder lane. i'm back had ten minutes. aaron and eun, back to you. >> thanks, danella. classes resume today in newtown, connecticut, all of the schools except sandy hook elementary will open again. police are on alert for threats and hoaxes. while some children in newtown will be back in school, the families of some of friday's

victims will say goodbye to their loved ones. more funerals will be held today. two 6-year-old boys, noah pozner and jack pinto were laid to rest today. 5:32 now. gun control advocates here in washington are reacting to the tragedy at sandy hook. some lawmakers are working on legislation to ban assault rifles like the one used last friday in newtown. nbc's tracie potts is live on capitol hill now with more. tracie, good morning. >> un, good morning. house minority leader nancy pelosi who wants that ban back is meeting with victims, the senate has announced hearings for early next year. the white house is promising comprehensive reform and we've seen protests outside the nra offices here in washington. the national rifle association so far largely silent on this, even online. their facebook page, their twitter feed, nothing since the shootings. but there are nra supporters not only gun control advocates on the hill but even long-time nra

supporters who are rethinking assault weapons. >> we need to accept the reality that we're not doing enough to protect our citizens. >> i don't know of anybody that goes hunting with an a saumt rifle. i don't know anybody that needs those types of multiple clips as far as ammunition. >> now, the washington post has a new poll out done over the weekend after the shootings. they found that the majority of americans, 54%, say they favor tougher laws. but even more than that, seven out of ten don't want to see a ban on handguns. eun in. tracie potts live on capitol hill this morning. tracie, thank you. this morning, this could be a crucial day in the effort to avoid the fiscal cliff. house speaker john boehner will update his fellow republicans on ongoing negotiations with president obama. they met at the white house yesterday. it appears they may be close to an argument. aides say boehner agreed to accept some tax increases for

the wealthiest americans. in return, the president will sign off on more spending cuts. the deal must be in place by the end of the year to avoid steep tax hikes and spending cuts. a deal will likely mean that more than 2 million americans will continue receiving their long-term unemployment checks. that money will stop coming in on december 29th unless lawmakers agree to renew the program. economists believe a continuation of unemployment benefits will likely be part of the fiscal deal. the final deal. because it has support from democrats and republicans outside of congress. d.c. police are investigating what they're calling a suspicious death in northeast. officers were called out to the 200 block of i street around 4:30 yesterday afternoon. they found the body of a man but are not saying how he died. homicide crews were also called to the scene. ths no new information. police in alexandria are looking for a shotgun taken from a stolen police car. two of the police cruisers were stolen last week, one on duke street on thursday, the other on princess street on friday.

both cars have been recovered but police say the shotgun that should have been in the first car is still missing. alexandria police are not sure how their cars are being stolen. they've sent out bulletins to departments regionwide warning them about the thefts. a man charged with killing a jewelry store owner. james caroline was indicted on capital murder and weapons charges yesterday. he's accused of killing tommy wong who owned capital jewelers in july. caroline will be in court on thursday to set a trial date. 5:36 is our time. coming up, we meet the person who will be the new u.s. senator from south carolina. he's already making history. there's new help for those affected by superstorm sandy in montgomery county. maybe you need an umbrella before you head out the door. tom has your forecast. danella is updating

welcome back. people in fiji are cleaning up after being pounded by a cyclone. the stormed ripped roofs off homes and churches, flooded roads and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes. this morning, power and phone lines are still down in parts of that country. about 8,000 people moved

into shelters there. nobody died, so everybody is trying to get things rebuilt there. coming up on 40 minutes after the hour. want to get a look at our forecast. bless you. >> thank you. the capitol in the distance. a few clouds in the distance. tom has a look at the details. >> yeah, but no fog. last night when you went to bed, you probably saw a lot of fog. but it's been swept away by a southwesterly breeze this morning. we have a lot of cloudiness lingering. low clouds over northern virginia, the district and much of maryland. the cloud cover breaks up farther to the south and east of washington as well as the blue rinl in shenandoah valley. it's chilly there as well as in the mountains. in the low to mid 40s. much of northern virginia and maryland hovering near 50 degrees. smitsburg in washington county, a lot of cloudiness. by the lunch-hour near 50. slight chance of a sprinkle.

slight chance of sprinkles throughout the region. maybe a few sprinkles late morning early afternoon. during the middle of the afternoon, reaching upper 50s. wind gusting to 30 miles per hour this morning and during the afternoon out of the north and west. a look at a cold change coming our way. seven-day outlook in ten minutes. danella with a look at traffic. >> good morning. i'm watching a water main break. eastbound columbia pike, closed between south wakefield and thomas street because of the water main break in that area. the 11th street bridge heading inbound at m street, the ramp shut down because of an accident in that area. traveling the hov lanes i-95 and northbound at back lick road, still seeing the crash off to the shoulder. the right lane is blocked by vdot in this area. aaron and eun over to you. thank you, danella. it's 5:41. still ahead. we check out the results of the speed cameras in maryland and how they've affected traffic. a new reason not to eat too

much this holiday season. to

iraqi president gentleman talibani has had a stroke. doctors are working to stabilize him. al maliki is at the hospital where the president is being treated. he's had a history of medical problems in in 2008 he had successful heart surgery here in the u.s. reporting from the live desk, angie goff, news 4. the victims of the sandy hook elementary school are being remembered on capitol hill. the house representatives paused yesterday for a moment of silence. congressman chris murphy of connecticut spoke on the house floor shortly before the tribute. the senate held a moment of silence as well. we're learning more about the suspect in the deadly shooting. friends of adam lanza say he had

asperger's, a mild tomorrow of autism. sebastian macklin from mcclain say his autism left him nonverbal and hyperactive at times. not violent. they're worried that it will cause further stigma against autism. >> asperger's disorder alone does not cause people to behave like this. there's more to the story. things will come out over time. if we don't find out, i sure hope people don't pin it just on the as berger's. they say that they've never been concerned with sebastian committing violent acts, his parents say that. that it is unfair to blame autism for being behind the shooting. we'll have much more on the tragedy at sandy hook throughout the morning. you can always get the latest on the tragedy on our website. nbcwashington.c nbcwashington.com. police in northern illinois charged more than 20 college students of hazing after a student was found dead had their fraternity home.

a freshman was found in the pi kappa alpha fraternity home back in november. the local coroner said the student died from severe alcohol intoxication with a blood alcohol level five times the legal limit. the university says the fraternity has been temporarily removed as a recognized student organization. parents in northeast washington -- parents in d.c. on edge after a body was found in a popular park behind an elementary school. a woman was walking her dog in fort lincoln park yesterday when she found april man's body by a park bench. investigators say it appears the man was shot. that park is behind marshall elementary school. a letter went home to parents that said no students saw the body and all school activities will remain indoors until the investigation is over. custom officers at dulles international airport made an unusual discovery while searching jars of stew. they found two pounds of cocaine hidden in the lining of the jars. agents became suspicious because

the jars felt too heavy. they detained a guatemalan man but did not charge him. agents say they will likely deport the man. new crime numbers for the district of columbia. while there were fewer murders overall crime is up. overall crime is up 4% over 201. that's largely in part to a spike in sex abuse cases, up 36% from last year. murder took the biggest drop in 2011, down 24%. arson, burglary and car theft saw big drops, down between 8% and 16%. it is official, electric torso owe the electors cast their ballots to formalize the results of the november 6th election. this is a constitutional formality. the electors vote based on the will of the state voters. president obama and joe biden -- the ballots will all arrive in washington where congress will count them on january 6th.

a south carolina congressman is making history. representative tim scott will be the first black senator in south carolina since reconstruction. governor nikki haley chose him to replace jim demint who plans to resign to head the heritage foundation. he's supported by the tea party. he'll be the only black member of the senate and the first since president obama. former president george h.w. bush is expected to be out of the hospital and home for the holidays. nbc news is reporting that the president is doing well. he's undergoing physical therapy after being hospitalized for a bronchitis-related cough. the 88-year-old was admitted to a texas hospital last month. news 4 your health may have you second-guess having a second helping this holiday season. not me. i don't know. researchers at cambridge say each day you overindulge in a bad habit can take 30 minutes off your life.

including being 11 pounds overweight, watching two hours of tv or eating a burger. >> what? >> researchers say there are ways to add hours as well. things like eating fruits and vegetables and exercising can add two hours to your life. >> whew. do that math. make a note. speed bumps could be the key to diagnosing appendicitis. there was a strong link. those who said speed bumps were painful had acute cases of append sight. it can be dangerous. many doctors remove a healthy appendix because of misdiagnosing. you no longer have to fill out a census survey with a pen and paper and mail it back in. you can respond online. the agency is hoping the move saves money and boosts the number of responses it receives. the first questionnaire available online will be the

american community survey sent to more than 3 million households each year. montgomery county will now receive aid to help recover from superstorm sandy. governor o'malley announced the decision by fema yesterday. that leaves baltimore county as the only county in the state not getting some help from the government. the aid will help pay for damage to public buildings and roads as well as debris removal. somerset county on the eastern shore will also receive aid for individual homeowners and business owners. several other counties on the eastern shore and western maryland were denied that money. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. we're starting off a little wet out there. it's not raining right now, tom kierein. >> there's no fog. the fog has dissipated. it was thick last night. but since we've had the winds picking up out of the southwest, that fog has been swept away. now a clear view of the capitol from our nbc4 hd city camera. live picture on this tuesday morning, 18th day of december. 50 at reagan national. the wind out of the southwest at

5 to 10 miles per hour. occasionally gusts to 15 miles per hour. ahead of a front and disturbance triggering -- in west virginia, up into southeastern ohio, western pennsylvania. that disturbance passing over our region here later this morning and early afternoon. it may give us a few sprinkles. ahead of that, temperatures in the 40s. all these areas in bluement shenandoah valley west into the mountains. near 50 in the suburbs and in washington. southern maryland near the bay, northern neck. it's generally in the low to mid 50s. we'll stay this way temperaturewise through 7:00 a.m. and cloudiness around. some breaks in the clouds. may have sun -- partly sunny by the noon hour. we'll be in the low to mid 50s still. a small chance of scattered sprinkles around the metro area. maybe around 10:00 this morning through 1:00 or 2:00 this afternoon. the winds gusting out of the northwest too, around 30 miles an hour later this afternoon.

winds diminish tonight after we reach the upper 50s this afternoon. we'll plunge all the way down to the low 30s by dawn on wednesday. then tomorrow, lots of sunshine. lighter wind. highs low 50s. then increasing clouds. strong storm developing to our north beginning on thursday. giving us rain here thursday afternoon and evening. ending pre-dawn on friday. windy and much colder behind that storm system as it moves north of us. on friday, afternoon highs only in the 40s. 20s in the mornings on saturday, sunday, monday. afternoon highs only near 40 each day diminishing winds by saturday afternoon. i'll be back in ten minutes. first 4 traffic now with dane a danella. good morning. >> good morning. i'm tracking breaking news on the road. the outer loop of the beltway, connecticut avenue. crashed lined up here on the left side of the roadway. it was temporarily blocking all of your lanes. now you can get by, but unfortunately, single file to the right. you can see it looks like a fire

truck is partially blocking the second right lane. you will be able to get by but single file to the right. let's talk about delays. absolutely yajammed past georgi avenue. heavy on the brakes -- solid dee base from i can't gentleman avenue right now. still checking on the water main break near columbia pike. south wakefield street to south thomas street is closed. the work around is make a right on south four mile run drive and left on george mason drive and reconnect to columbia pike. still checking on the 11th street bridge inbound at m street. it's still blocked because of the crash in that area. aaron and eun, back to you. >> thank you, danella. d.c. is looking for a replacement to the red top meter program. it aimed to reserve 10% of the metered spots for people with disabiliti disabilities. it would force them to pay for parking for the first time. a bill failed to pass the d.c.

council last week even though the city has already spent $700,000 on these new meters. d.c.'s department of transportation is now working on another way to provide more accessible parking for the disabled. speed cameras in maryland appear to be helping to make roads safer. aaa says 365,000 drivers have been ticketed by the cameras so far this year. that is down from half a million drivers in 2011. aaa believes the speed cameras, especially in work zones are slowing drivers down. crashes, deaths and injuries in work zones are also at a ten-year low. you'll likely see a lot more capital bike share stations in the district next year. vdot proposed locations for 54 new locations in all eight wards of the district. that's a 40% increase in the district. the proposed locations include stations on both sides of the mall as well as along minnesota avenue southeast and rhode island avenue northeast. there are currently more than 190 stations in d.c. and virginia. vdot plans to start installing

the new spots sometime in january. five minutes before the hour now. some mcdonald's restaurants could be open for christmas. cnbc's brantley is live with more. >> good morning, aaron. mcdonald's is hoping to get a few extra presents under the tree this year. the fast food giants urged franchise owners to be open christmas day to help deliver higher december sales. that goes against the company's tradition of being closed on major holidays. the request was made in a memo to franchises in november. mcdonald's sales fell for the first time in nine years in october but rebounded last month and the company attributes part of that to o stores that were open on thanksgiving. iphone users are happy they can use google maps again. since it was released last wednesday night, the app has been downloaded more than 10 million times. you may recall apple removed google maps from iphone five in

favor of its own mapping software. it's been met with criticism for things like giving back directions. that led to a public apology from apple ceo tim cook. back to you. thank you very much. samsung will be able to continue selling smartphones in the u.s. a federal judge denied apple's request to ban the phones. apple has already been awarded a billion dollars in damages because the smartphones illegally use apple technology. a lawyer for samsung says the attempt to ban the phones was part of an effort by apple to tie up samsung in courts around the world for as long as possible. a man in japan is now the oldest person in the world. he's 115 years old. that is the third oldest age for a man ever recorded. he lives with his family there. he attributes his longevity to sunlight and his efforts to keep his mind sharp. he was born in 1897. >> i looks good too. he does. we're following several breaking stories this morning. an apartment complex evacuated.

we'll tell you what brought the swat team to that neighborhood in maryland. nbc revealed correspondent richard engel is safe after being kidnapped in syria. the